Big12 Breaking Up?

[slide_into_first]

Maybe it's bs but there are stories Oklahoma, Ok State, A&M and Mizzou will join the SEC? Seems like too large a conference - two divisions of 8 teams each.

[clevername]

all speculation. I haven't seen anything that indicates the SEC would want OK State and Missouri. They've been flirting with A&M for a while (and they might be the catalyst here) and would probably take Oklahoma, though that's no sure thing. I think it might be more likely that they would take A&M then try to add someone from a different, bigger market than Oklahoma from another conference since the whole thing is about money anyway.

Everyone's pissed with Texas' position of financial and competitive advantage due to their new TV deal, and rightly so, but they agreed to stay in the conference last year knowing this would happen.

[JL21]

My understanding of all of this:

-Dave Matter asked a Mizzou official if there was any truth to the rumor that the four schools were talking to the SEC. It was denied, at least from Mizzou's perspective.

-aTm approached the SEC last year, and I think the SEC would've been more than willing to take them had the Big XII blown up (with several Big XII South teams going to the Pac Ten). But I sort of doubt that the SEC views aTm as a target. Putting it in MLB player terms, the SEC might take aTm as a free agent but they wouldn't go out of their way to trade for them.

-I imagine any conference would take OU if presented the chance if only for the football reputation.

As for Mizzou and Oklahoma St., who the hell knows. I sort of doubt there's any truth to the rumors, at least for now.

[clevername]

the SEC might not take them based on football rep. They have plenty of that. Their expansion concerns are with how much money a new team's market will bring in that they don't have access to. A&M brings in Houston.

There's an argument to be made for Oklahoma and the national market, but I don't think they're a slam dunk admission. Their local market isn't that big. It's a similar argument with FSU, Georgia Tech, and Clemson. All 3 would be great additions to the SEC from a history perspective, but none of them would give them access to markets they don't already have teams in or markets that will give them significant financial gain.

All that changes, of course, if we end up blowing up the Big 12 completely and move towards that 4 16 team megaconference situation we seem destined for at some point. If they're adding 4 teams, I think they'd love to take Oklahoma. I only see a problem if there's only one spot and they have other options that may give them better inroads.

Any other conference would gladly take Oklahoma, but the SEC isn't any other conference.

[JL21]

OU gets you Oklahoma City, which has 580,000 residents (31st largest in the country; 1.2M residents in the metro area). And unlike other teams in larger markets, the Sooners dominate that market. Combine that with their national rep and their relative hoops success and I think they're a slam dunk. Granted, OKC isn't huge, but all of those homes are nothing to sneeze at. By contrast, OKC's population is bigger than any other market in the current SEC except for Jacksonville, Memphis, and Nashville. There's also Louisville, but that's not really an SEC market.

I don't know. Maybe I've just got too much Big XII/Big 8 blood in my fandom. OU seems kind of obvious to me.

[lukethedrifter]

Seems silly to me to think that OU isn't a slam dunk. Besides the obvious national name brand power of OU, you get OKC (45) and Tulsa (61) TV markets. But mostly a hell of a lot more people are going to tune in to see OU vs LSU than Ole Miss vs LSU. People everywhere.

[clevername]

I'm just passing along the arguments I've already heard here in SEC country. They'd rather try to get someone like UNC, though that seems pretty improbable to me.

[JL21]

UNC would definitely fit the description you've given- it gives them Charlotte, it expands them north, it gives them a hoops heavyweight.

[clevername]

and they already know how to cheat on an SEC level.

[JL21]

They're approaching Big Ten levels.

Wouldn't Miami also fit the description?